UK now spends more time online each day than sleeping

The average adult in the UK spends nearly nine hours of each day on media and communication, outstripping even the amount of time spent sleeping or doing other vital tasks, according to the latest figures from Ofcom.

Better connectivity — nearly 98 per cent of homes and businesses have access to 4G from at least one provider — has led to an increase in the amount of time spent online, supported by an increase in smartphone ownership, which is now at 71 per cent of UK adults, up from 66 per cent last year.

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Over 80 per cent of respondents said the internet makes communicating easier, but a majority of the 2,525 respondents also conceded that they were probably "hooked" on the internet and spent longer than intended online each day. On average, we spend a little more than one day each week online (25 hours), with 10 per cent saying that they access the internet more than 50 times each day.

This "love affair" with the web is leading to some unhappy interpersonal situations, however. For example, 40 per cent of people felt they'd been 'smart-snubbed' (ignored by a friend or relative engrossed in their phone or laptop) on a weekly basis - with 17 per cent saying it happens every day.

The UK may well be addicted to its devices, but people are also now more aware of that distraction and ongoing effects of spending too much time online each day, with nearly half reporting that they'd skipped housework, sleep or schoolwork to spend more time online.

As a result, over a third of web users in the UK have undertaken a deliberate "digital detox" to try and wean themselves off the addiction. Of these, up to 25 per cent stepped away for just a day, 20 per cent for up to a week, and a brave five per cent spent up to a month without the web.